AVIA releases OTT study in Singapore at its first OTT Upfront Showcase

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has  released a new research study entitled Premium OTT – Building its Rightful Place in the Digital Market,  to understand the usage of different video services in Singapore and attitudes towards them. The  independent research study conducted by Milieu Insight was unveiled to agencies, advertisers and  brands at AVIA’s first OTT Upfront Showcase where two of the region’s top premium video services,  iQIYI and Viu, presented previews and highlights of their upcoming slate of content to the audience at  a closed-door event.  

The research shows that Premium OTT streaming services (OTT) are clearly differentiated from videos  viewed on social media or video sharing sites. OTT was highly valued by consumers in Singapore for  having the highest quality content. 58% of respondents indicated that they felt premium OTT services  had high quality content, compared to only 36% for social media and video sharing services. Similarly,  when asked which video services they generally felt captured the highest levels of attention while  watching, 49% of respondents selected OTT streaming services, compared to only 35% who selected  social media and video sharing services. 

Levels of engagement were also entirely different with 51% of people feeling immersed when  watching OTT content as opposed to only 39% for social media & video sharing. Top emotions elicited  when watching OTT were happiness and amusement whereas for social media and video sharing, the  top emotion was “nothing”. 

When looking at the impact of advertising, linear television remains the place where it is most noticed  (76%) and ads are thought to be the highest quality (41%), although it is in social media where ads feel  most intrusive (37%). Linear was again the winner when it came to prompting brand or product  searches (25%) and prompting purchase (19%). Louis Boswell, CEO, AVIA, commented that this  “bodes well for the OTT industry. There is a clear link between linear television and OTT from a content  perspective, and with more OTT services looking at advertising, I strongly suspect it is simply a matter  of time before the effectiveness of ads on OTT matches that of linear television.” 

Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, iQIYI International, commented, “AVIA’s research further cements the rise of OTT and the appreciation for the premium content on  OTT platforms. As the OTT industry continues evolving and becoming more accessible, its audience is  also looking for more diverse content. With the global success of shows such as iQIYI's original costume  drama Story of Yanxi Palace drawing a global audience larger than that of Game of Thrones, the rise  of Asian content is also drawing in larger, more diverse audiences. We are thrilled to be a part of  AVIA’s inaugural OTT Upfront Showcase in Singapore and to have the opportunity to showcase our  exciting slate to advertisers and partners.” 

AVIA thanks its members Magnite, PubMatic, The Trade Desk, and Xandr for supporting the OTT  Upfront Showcase and the same companies plus Index Exchange for supporting the research. 

A link to the research study entitled Premium OTT – Building its Rightful Place in the Digital Market can be downloaded here.